After a heavy week (I've got a few exams) my second level is published! It's called The Castle and you can find it when you search for wouties. I hope you like this level, because it took me a while to make.

Story
Not a very interesting story, but I still tell it. There's a lonely child captured in his own castle. First thing you need to do is go to that castle. Second thing is to find the kid and then you must save him!

Editing
You can also move this level to My Moon and edit the level, or see how the level is made. Maybe you can make the level better? :D

Pictures
To give you an impression of the level I've published some pictures:

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/8185/goed2.png

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/301/goed3.png

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/1625/goed4.png

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/4254/goed5.png

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/8504/goed6.png

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1973/goed7.png

Wouties

Arrestor

01-22-2010, 03:11 PM

Some feedback without even playing your level:

You say its not an interesting story.
Why is it included if you think its not good?

I say this because i have #2 of this thread ( http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?21630-Level-Promotion-Tactics-for-the-PSP ) in mind right now.

I will now download and play your level :D

(and btw: i dont think making a level copyable is a good idea...)

Edit:
Played your level now.
I think there are some really good ideas in it (having to find the right key, the castle in the background, the flying machine).
Besides that your level has a good legth.

I noticed some things that could be improved easily:
I think you should add a textbox at the place where the keys are. I didnt really know what to do there and tried to find the right key...
At the area with the moving platforms on the lava you dont really need the switches above. You can leave them as they are and just jump down to the front layer at the end of the track. Maybe add something that blocks the way to the front layer (a see-through material on the middle thin layer should work).
I wondered why there is some guy drowning in the river? Is he part of the story? if not i would suggest to remove him.
Some of your textboxes dont show text. (the one on the cloud for example)
Some areas seem a little empty to me. Maybe you can add more Stickers/ Objects (Trees, Rocks...)

I know this was a lot i mentioned but i like your level and think you are doing fine.
Few improvements will make this a really good level!

:star::star::star::star: `s and maybe more if you should reupload it.

Greetings!

wouties

01-23-2010, 09:12 AM

Hi arrestor,
first thanks for all the tips you gave me, I really appreciate that. But now some comments on your criticism:

You say its not an interesting story.
Why is it included if you think its not good?

I say this because i have #2 of this thread ( http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?21630-Level-Promotion-Tactics-for-the-PSP ) in mind right now.
Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see that topic (I was a few days absent). But I'll keep this topic in mind.

(and btw: i dont think making a level copyable is a good idea...)
Why not? Because other people are going to steal my level and then say that they have created the level? I'm not scared of that :)

At the area with the moving platforms on the lava you dont really need the switches above. You can leave them as they are and just jump down to the front layer at the end of the track. Maybe add something that blocks the way to the front layer (a see-through material on the middle thin layer should work).
Yes I also thought of that, but because I had some terrible bugs whith the whole level (switches don't work, a few materials were just "gone" (you saw them in creating mode, but if you played the level you didn't see anyting, very weird)), I wasn't able to do that.

I wondered why there is some guy drowning in the river?
Gheghe, that was just a adventure, who fall of the bridge :p

Wouties

Arrestor

01-23-2010, 09:55 AM

Yes I also thought of that, but because I had some terrible bugs whith the whole level (switches don't work, a few materials were just "gone" (you saw them in creating mode, but if you played the level you didn't see anyting, very weird)), I wasn't able to do that.

i think this will also help you: http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?20626-Invisible-Material-Glitch-found!-D&highlight=invisible+glitch

wouties

01-23-2010, 10:17 AM

i think this will also help you: http://www.lbpcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?20626-Invisible-Material-Glitch-found!-D&highlight=invisible+glitch
Uh, I already know that :D

Arrestor

01-23-2010, 10:31 AM

Than you can explain the materials that were gone by yourselve!? :D

wouties

01-23-2010, 01:26 PM

Than you can explain the materials that were gone by yourselve!? :D

No no, that was the weird thing. In create mode you just saw the material (it wasn't invisible), and if you went to playing mode you saw nothing! Not even a invisible thing. There was just nothing. First I thought that the material was "dynamic" and that the material just fell down in playing mode. That wasn't right. So I just deleted the whole thing and created it again. Then the trouble was over.

Arrestor

01-23-2010, 01:30 PM

Thats really weird...

Spark151

01-23-2010, 03:20 PM

Liked the level
5 star
:star::star::star::star::star:
Although you should work better on pistons/winches

jeffcu28

01-24-2010, 05:21 PM

Hey wouties,

That was a fantastically whimsical little adventure, somewhat reminiscent of the quirky charm of "The Gardens" in the PS3 version. I really liked how you played with perspectives in the beginning, looking at the castle from a distance and flying towards it. The illusion surprisingly worked! The castle design itself was also wonderfully done with all its arts and craftiness.

Although thematically your level looked put together, the story did seem a bit disjointed. I was unaware that I had to rescue someone, and you didn't provide any story behind his/her character to make the player want to play the hero besides having to finish the level. Character design was also a bit simple and didn't compliment the theme. Perhaps knights, jesters, kings, queens, etc. would've been better. And imagine a knight drowning in the river: that would've been hilarious!:D

I would have to agree with Arrestor on all points. The rescuing section needed explanation; you can jump to the front layer to drop down to the bottom switch in the underground section; and the ending sections needed a little more polish. In addition, I didn't understand what the lift on the left tower of the castle did. Was I suppose to grab on to the cloud? The area around the cage felt empty, and in the boat ride to the finish, you can see the ground below the water.

Nonetheless, this level still had magic in its charm, and I hope you can improve on it a little bit more despite all the bugs you experienced.
:star::star::star::star:

Stealing the flying machine,
jeffcu28

wouties

01-25-2010, 09:11 AM

Hey jeffcu28,

first thanks for you detailed review and all comments, I really appreciate that! Maybe I'll edit the level and filter all the bugs...and republish if I have some time...

Perhaps knights, jesters, kings, queens, etc. would've been better. And imagine a knight drowning in the river: that would've been hilarious!:D

Why do you have all that good ideas? A beautifull princess kidnapped and an angry king who you must beat... I get so much fresh new idea's! Maybe I make a new level: The Castle part 2. Gheghe :D

I didn't understand what the lift on the left tower of the castle did. Was I suppose to grab on to the cloud?

You mean this part?

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8460/goed1.png

And yes, you can grab the cloud and then you're able to "swing" to the roof. There's a pricebubble :)

Wouties

Domik12

01-25-2010, 11:30 AM

wouties, cool level and good story! Only few comments: name of level is "castle", that can mean that main level object is some castle and adventure in it. But in your level - castle plays not biggest role, its just one small location. Its not bad but level name creates wrong expectations. And as it was mentioned already - in the beginning there must be some additional story note for player for inducting into the story. Its only my OMHO.
Anyway - level is great madded and I played it with big interest. 4 stars (for some misunderstands and some switches that in first time works in wrong way).

wouties

01-25-2010, 12:53 PM

Hey Domik12,

first thanks for you reaction :)

And the name... I didn't realised the name doesn't fits bij this level. First I had as name KIDnapped (a kid is kidnapped). But I just hated that name. So I chose another.

in the beginning there must be some additional story note for player for inducting into the story.
Did you read the description of the level? :p

Wouties

Domik12

01-25-2010, 01:46 PM

Did you read the description of the level? :p
Wouties

Yes I read it. And yes - player know some story from description. But if you look at many cool levels -there is small story in description and bigger and more interesting and wider in game. That is what I mean.

wouties

01-25-2010, 01:49 PM

Okey, sorry for the misunderstanding.

Lleonard Pler

01-25-2010, 03:17 PM

Is it possible that I had already played an early version of this level days ago? The last part was different, but everything else was just the same. Did you publish a beta or something?

Anyway, while there are some great ideas in the level (viewing the castle from the distance and then getting there, the keys puzzle...), there are some parts that could be better. When climbing the tree, it's hard to tell which leaves are platforms and which aren't. While this adds an extra challenge, some people may get frustrated there.

Also, it's possible to get out of the scenery at some spots, forcing you to kill sackboy to get back to the checkpoint.

And in the keys puzzle, it isn't clear that you must destroy the wrong keys, at first I thought I just had to try each one of them, but of course it was impossible.

But like I said, the level is okay and it has some great ideas. 4 stars. Keep up the good work.

Taffey

01-25-2010, 05:50 PM

This is a good level and overall I liked it. I still don't understand why you'd want to publish this as copyable, but that's your decision so I don't need to say anything else. :)

I didn't really understand the story, except that there's someone in a castle you need to rescue. Simple stories work well on the PSP though, so that was enough for me. The simple and cartoony visuals are also well-suited to the PSP, and I thought you did a very good job with hidden stashes of score bubbles throughout the level. The exploration factor adds quite a lot to the experience, and I thought it was great. The flying machine itself is somewhat ugly, but the transition was done very well. I especially liked seeing the castle off in the distance and then suddenly up close. I didn't like how you can see the level background through the castle windows, but that's a very minor detail. The key puzzle was a bit confusing, but the branching paths were a nice touch and made the experience enjoyable.

The few complaints I do have about this level have already been addressed by other people. The platforming section through the trees was very weird and hard to judge, and the invisible swingy thing just makes the whole section seem like it's broken. When I finally did get through the trees I didn't know if that's how it was supposed to be done or not. The elevator on the left castle tower is a nice touch, but actually using it to jump out and grab the cloud is very messy. The platform doesn't line up with the hole, so timing the jump is tricky and half-blind. The rope bridge towards the beginning of the level is also kind of wonky, and the camera angle shift made it that much harder to platform across. One of the planks seems to be flapping in the breeze or doing the disco or something, making that area seem sort of messy.

I was torn on whether this was a 4 or 5 star level, but I settled on 4.5 stars which of course rounds up to 5 in-game. Nice work!

Xacktar

03-19-2010, 06:24 PM

I totally agree with what Arrestor and Taffey have already said. A little more guidance for our little sackboys would go a long way in improving this level.